Huai Shi ate the meal in a state of terror.
Even the special dishes from the school cafeteria no longer tasted good.
The female inspector seated across from him, on the other hand, slowly and methodically finished everything on her tray. Her expression remained calm from beginning to end, revealing neither pleasure nor displeasure.
At last, after wiping her mouth, she looked up at him.
The screen on the table to her right lit up. The inspection team's report had been submitted.
In just two hours, sixteen personnel from the statistics department had completed their audit of the Ivory Tower's combat readiness, reserves, operational capacity, staff, combat strength, and every Unified Bureau-related project's finances, operations, and stage assessments.
The efficiency was astonishing.
"Congratulations, Huai Shi."
She raised an eyebrow, seemingly surprised. "Just as you said, your work is beyond reproach. Every achievement is impressive.
"For this surprise inspection, perhaps you will receive the highest rating among all border defense evaluations."
Huai Shi's chopsticks paused, and he subconsciously let out a long breath.
Even though Russell had sent word from London long ago and made arrangements, and everyone had produced sufficient results and prepared for this inspection for a long time... after the morning's inspections everywhere, Huai Shi had still grown rather nervous.
The Unified Bureau's surprise inspections had always been harsh. And after Huai Shi owed them money, they would only become harsher—put bluntly, these people had come solely to pick bones out of eggs.
What was more, the one picking those bones was his old acquaintance, Ai Qing.
Expecting her to bend the rules for him was far too extravagant. To her, no matter how close they were personally, work was work. There would be no slackness or leniency... besides, Huai Shi felt that their personal relationship might already